I think I have stopped getting excited over any Star Wars that comes from GL! The only Star Wars things that make me happy anymore are new novels to read. TCW is too hyped up and when fans of Star Wars that love the EU get excited about an upcoming episode it seems like a hammer smashes the EU every time. I've been tired of what they are doing to and with the show. I've stepped out of the fandom area for the most part because no matter how much we express our dislikes about the show it only gets worse it seems. By the time this show ends the Republic comics will, if not already, be null and void. This worries and angers me to no end, and now the return of Maul? Really? I suppose he will have the cybernetic legs and will be killed again in the future by Obi-Wan. Gosh I hate TCW._________________
-YOU REBEL SCUM!
-Through victory my chains are broken.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:51 pm

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Taral-DLOSMaster

Joined: 23 Nov 2010Posts: 1988Location: Ontario, Canada

I believe that death in sci-fi is very much like death in comic books: nonpermanent.

They used to say that only three deaths in comic books had to be permanent: Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben. Reason? The deaths of those three characters were extremely important in shaping the heroes they were associated with (Captain America, Batman, and Spider-Man, respectively.)

Since then, both Bucky and Jason Todd have been resurrected.

Science fiction and fantasy are genres that allow for the non-permanence of death (especially Fantasy, and I consider Star Wars to be far more Fantasy than SF).

If we complain (for lack of a better word) when a dead character comes back in one franchise, why not complain for all of them? After all, Gandalf died in The Fellowship of the Ring, and they resurrected him. Same with Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe._________________http://taralbooks.blogspot.ca

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:18 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 5339Location: Korriban

See but Star Wars has a pretty strict continuity...that Lucas ignores..._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:22 pm

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Crash OverrideMaster

Joined: 22 Dec 2010Posts: 1962

He wouldn't be the first.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:22 pm

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ReepicheepMaster

Joined: 05 Feb 2008Posts: 7787Location: Sailing into the unknown

Let me defend Narnia and LOTR. There is a HUGE difference. Both Aslan's resurrection and Gandalf's return were symbolic of Christ's resurrection. I highly doubt Darth Maul's return has this type of mythological significance. Or any kind of significance. Tolkien and Lewis knew what they were doing and not only did they plan on bringing both characters back they did it in the same book (counting LOTR as one book). They didn't bring back a fan favourite just to squeeze out some extra dough. Darth Maul was dead in the minds of everyone (including Lucas', I'll bet you a $1M) and then years later some guy at a press conference said, "DUDE!! We should bring Darth Maul back!" followed by Lucas shrugging and saying, "Heck, why not?" _________________
Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

It seems to have been Lucas' idea to bring him back. I suspect it has to do with the February release of Episode I in 3D and 2012 being the year of Darth Maul, essentially.

Perhaps I would be bothered by this if it was a character other than Darth Maul because he was severely underutilized as a villain. And I can understand the thinking that two wrongs don't make a right, so to speak, that they blew it with the character, but bringing him back from the dead doesn't help the situation.

But I don't buy a slippery slope argument because the Expanded Universe was basically founded upon resurrecting dead characters -- and yes, Boba Fett was dead and I'm sure the whole reason Maul was cut in half and then dropped in a pit was specifically because the EU brought Fett back.

And I suspect that by bringing Darth Maul back, it's actually going to make him a more interesting character. The Expanded Universe didn't do a whole lot with Darth Maul as a character. He's an extremely one dimensional living weapon. I get the impression that TCW is going to make Maul a formidable villain, perhaps even greater than Darth Tyranus in power. When you think about it, the idea of Maul and Opress taking on Sidious and Tyranus seems laughable, but if Maul is closer to Sidious than Tyranus is ability, especially if he knows some Nightsister magic, then it makes for an interesting Sith Civil War type story.

He wouldn't be the first to survive being cut in half.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:52 pm

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Taral-DLOSMaster

Joined: 23 Nov 2010Posts: 1988Location: Ontario, Canada

Reepicheep wrote:

Let me defend Narnia and LOTR. There is a HUGE difference.

I'd like to point out that I wasn't attacking Narnia or LOTR. I was pointing out that death and resurrection are common in SF&F as a genre._________________http://taralbooks.blogspot.ca

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:42 pm

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Crash OverrideMaster

Joined: 22 Dec 2010Posts: 1962

I guess the way I look at it is that there's three reasons not to resurrect a dead character:

1) It cheapens death.

2) Depending upon the cause of death, it stretches believability.

3) It hurts a prior narrative.

I think reason #1 is irrelevant to Star Wars because the EU was pretty much founded upon the resurrection of Boba Fett and Palpatine and this has manifested throughout the Star Wars narrative through the use of clones, Force doppelgangers, resurrection powers, etc. Reason #3 doesn't really apply to Darth Maul. I think most people agree that his death was the mistake, so undoing that isn't going to hurt Episode I. There's been at least three stories already written in which Maul is resurrected somehow.

Reason #2 is the strongest reason not to revive Maul, but I'm reserving judgment until we learn how he survived, because it could be creative and nip any potential argument about reason #2 at the bud. Plus we've seen characters survive getting cut in half and falling down pits before, albeit not at the same time.

I think the Sith powers we've seen in the Expanded Universe have pretty much made the survival of any Sith believable at this point:

Haha, no worries. It was meant top be funny in a jaded, sarcastic sort of way.

Taral-DLOS wrote:

I'd like to point out that I wasn't attacking Narnia or LOTR. I was pointing out that death and resurrection are common in SF&F as a genre.

I know. I just tend to take Narnia personally. _________________
Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:24 am

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Darth SkuldrenModerator

Joined: 04 Feb 2008Posts: 6916Location: Missouri

I wonder if they had to kill Boba Fett in order to maintain balance now that Maul is alive. _________________
"I believe toys resonate with us as humans, we can hold them, it's tactile, real! They are totems for our extended beliefs and imaginations. A fetish for ideas that hold as much interest and passion as old religious relics for some. We display them in our homes. They show who we are. They are signals for similar thinking people. A way we connect with each other...and I guess thats why I do toys. That connection." -Ashley Wood

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 12:27 pm

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Taral-DLOSMaster

Joined: 23 Nov 2010Posts: 1988Location: Ontario, Canada

Darth Skuldren wrote:

I wonder if they had to kill Boba Fett in order to maintain balance now that Maul is alive.

I am on the fence here. On one side I'm glad that he is coming back for he is an unused character and I hope the will show us his force power rather than just using his lightsaber. On the other hand I don't want him resurrected. What will this be the 3rd? I like the other two Vader vs Maul and Obi-wan vs Cyborg Maul. They had back story and meaning but I can't see it working in TCW._________________

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:54 pm

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Crash OverrideMaster

Joined: 22 Dec 2010Posts: 1962

Taral-DLOS wrote:

Darth Skuldren wrote:

I wonder if they had to kill Boba Fett in order to maintain balance now that Maul is alive.

They DID kill Boba Fett. Years ago. In 1983. The EU's first big resurrection.

Yeah, from May 12, 1983 until June 23, 1992, Boba Fett was dead (although he was briefly alive in March 1984).